The Meeting
by Chris000
Summary: A world has been destroyed, and many lives along with it. A Forerunner Miner stands to blame, but the means through which he achieved this though has puzzled his captors. He stands to be sentenced for his crime, but it appears that this collection of prosecutors are more interested in the weapon than the man holding it. Part of the Chaos Chronicles crossover universe. One Shot


The Meeting  
C.R.V.

Ecumene Security Fortress  
Nordismn, Immolt Star System, Thema 109  
80,000 years before the firing of the Array,  
176,761 years before the current date,  
29 minutes after planetary noon.

"I don't see why Catalog must be involved in this." Calm-after-Storm fussed, glaring out of the window over the forest. He had his back turned to the others in the room.

The others looked at the Warrior-Servant with annoyance. Of all the Forerunners in the room, Calm seemed the least happy to be here.

Twelve individuals of all of the Rates were gathered around a small column of meshing metal. They were gathered here because of a criminal that was to be punished. Normally, this would have been a task that would be better suited before a cabinet of Juridicials back in the Capital System, but the nature of the crime needed to be dealt with as quickly as possible.

At the head of the delegation was a Builder named Blunt-from-Striking, a thirteen thousand year old sixth form who stood taller than four meters. His size presented an extra sense of intimidation over the others in the room. "This case requires the swiftness of the justice system. It must be dealt with now, Warrior." He nodded towards a slender female, the senior Juridicial among the group. Her deeds were well known to all at the meeting. Her name was Truth-of-Justice. "Would you like to begin the proceeding?" Blunt asked her.

"Indeed I would." She said in that smooth Juridical voice. She turned to Catalog, the assistant to the Juridicial who was assigned to see all and know all. "Are you recording?"

"I already was." Catalog replied.

"Very good." Truth turned to two Warrior-Servants standing guard at the doorway. "You may bring him in now."

The large and bulky Forerunners nodded and turned to walk through the door. For a few moments, the only sound that resonated was the ambient hum of the machinery and displays in the room. Calm was still looking out the window over the forest. He did not believe that this was a matter that a Warrior-Servant should be involved in. He believed it to be a Builder issue since this thing threatened _their _infrastructure. Not his.

His quills twitched as he heard the door slide open. The Warrior-Servants returned with another Forerunner in tow. A Miner was suspended in a field projected from a floating disc. He didn't struggle much, but his expression was blank. He was stripped of his armor, instead he was dressed in a leisure garb of cloth. The Builder was brought to the middle of the group. The Warrior Servants walked back to their posts and stood guard at the door.

"Let us proceed with this trial. I am the presiding official, Truth-of-Justice, senior Juridical. May you all bear witness to this trial. Catalog is present. How do you address this?"

The group chanted in agreement to the opening words of the trial.

Truth locked her steel-grey eyes on the Miner suspended in the field. "You are the Miner, Spade-with-Cracks? Third form?"

"That is correct, Senior Juridical." Spade growled. "There is none else I could be."

"Your sarcasm is noted." Truth replied. "If you are well, can we proceed with this hearing?"

"By all means."

"You have been called before this panel to determine the sentencing for your crimes against the Ecumene."

Spade raised an eyebrow. "Forgive me, Senior Juridical, but perhaps I am unfamiliar with how our trials work. Should you not be determining whether or not I _am_ guilty before sentencing?"

"Your _guilt_ has already been plainly determined by the members of the Juridical Council and of this impromptu panel. You were the only one with access to the means by which you were able to commit your crime."

"I grieve for the loss of due process…"

"Silence!" Truth said in a hard tone. The stasis field locked up and Spade was frozen for a moment, eyes contorted in what may have been pain, or perhaps more struggling to free himself from the field."

Another Miner spoke up. His name was Trenches-Underfoot. He was distinguished by his jet black fur around the face and scars around his nose, possibly a result of a mining accident in his youth. "You disgrace yourself with what you have done! You have no right to speak with such mirth! Hold your tongue and act like the Third Form you are!"

Spade did not speak. Catalog tilted one of its eyes to capture the image of Trenches-Underfoot. This would be useful information to give to the Juridical Network. Perhaps this case would be studied by the Domain for centuries to come. The rest of its eyes were divided around the room. Two focused on Spade-With-Cracks, while a fourth was focused on Truth. It remained silent. Recording, not speaking, was its purpose.

"For the purposes of this proceeding, I will repeat the circumstances through which you were brought before us."

Calm turned slightly from the window, cape fluttering with movement. The floating pieces of his armor bobbed in the air. He was interested to hear this.

A monitor appeared near Truth and projected a holographic block of information in front of her. The Senior Juridical nodded in appreciation towards the machine, which remained in the air. "Approximately one hundred and thirty standard days ago, the Third Form Miner known as Spade-with-Cracks was part of a team of Miners that was to be excavating part of the Ecumene-sanctioned harvesting world known as Dole Brienng. The individual in question was under the authority of the Senior Miner Supervisor of the planet. Spade-with-Cracks, twelve days after arriving on planet discovered what we are now calling Dole Brienng-A, an artifact of a sort that we are not able to confirm at this time." She paused and looked about to see the reactions of those around her. Trenches-Underfoot was leaning forward on the table with his right hand stroking his facial fur. A graceful male Lifeworker called Leaves-that-Glow sat with arms crossed, clearly not liking where things were heading in the trial.

Truth continued. "Upon finding and taking possession of Dole Brienng-A, Spade-with-Cracks then proceeded to keep it for himself and not returning to his local supervisor for processing. While this is indeed an offense for Minors, it is a negligible one – a mistake that could have been corrected by the Miner in charge of the excavation site. This offense though, far exceeds keeping a valuable artifact for one's self."

"If I may ask, Senior Juridical," Leaves asked in a Lifeworker's melodic voice , "If you have the artifact with you here today?"

Truth nodded her head. For the second time, she called to the Warrior-Servant guards that stood at the back. "Please bring the evidence."

The huge Forerunners brought a container to the center of the room. It was large enough for it to be carried by both of them. Trenches-Underfoot squinted his eyes at the package as it came, stroking his facial fur curiously. Calm actually turned to face the table, with his attention piqued. Leaves-that-Glow's mouth fell open and he tilted his head to the side. Clearly he was confused by this, as were many of the other Forerunners in the room.

"Catalog will ensure that the evidence is in full view for further study."

"I will ensure it." Catalog replied. It focused all of its eyes on the box that the Warrior-Servants heaved onto the floor.

"What the hell is that?" Another Warrior-Servant demanded.

"The evidence. This is Dole Brienng-A. Upon taking possession of the artifact, Spade-with-Cracks proceeded to make personal experiments on it. The individual in question was able to determine that the artifact was able to channel energy and output power." The monitor next to the Juridical displayed a string of information. Through unknown means, Spade-with-Cracks was able to magnify energy using this device. This is where he sought to use it to his own advantage. Forty standard days ago, Spade-with-Cracks was wronged by an Engineer named Plasma-Flows-Long."

"In what manner?" Trenches-Underfoot asked.

"We believe it was a personal vendetta. Unfortunately, Plasma-Flows-Long will not be able to testify on his behalf, as he was discovered dead two days after the altercation between him and Spade-with-Cracks."

"What was the cause of death?" Trenches asked again.

The monitor shifted a new file in front of Truth. "Cause of death was determined as strangulation, possibly with a high-tensile fiber support wire. The act itself was able to cut fairly deep into Plasma-Flows-Long's skin."

"Coward!" Calm shouted from his spot near the window. "The Mantle condemns your actions!"

"I urge you to calm yourself as well, Warrior-Servant!" Truth warned. "The Mantle does not condemn in these chambers. _I do_."

Catalogue's eyes adjusted themselves to watch the multiple speakers.

Spade chose this moment to speak for himself. "He wanted to steal it from me! He knew that it was a way for him to gain unimaginable wealth! The little plasma rat thought he would kill _me_ when he was done! He sought to leave me dead lying in a furnace somewhere."

"Your words are cheap." Blunt-from-Striking said. "You say that he intended to kill you, yet here you are, and he lies dead by your hand." He looked at Truth. "Please continue, Senior Juridical."

"I shall." She commanded the monitor to give her the next page of her report. "Ten days following the murder of Plasma-Flows-Long, Dole Breinng was destroyed."

A silence fell about the chambers. Forerunners looked at one another in confusion.

Leaves gained the courage to speak first, layering the troubling words with his beautiful voice. "D…Destroyed?"

A large holographic picture appeared in the center of the chambers. It was a massive orb, with the name written in Digon, 'Dole Breinng'. It was a lightly dusted world with two moons, though the unmistakable sheen of forests showed that it was home to indigenous life. On the night side of the planet, a city stretched across one of the continents.

"This is the planet before the incident." Truth said. "The population of three billion, four hundred and twenty thousand Forerunners, mostly of the Miner and Builder rates. A relatively small population of three million Warrior-Servants also called this world home."

"Three billion, four hundred and twenty thousand, four hundred and six." Catalog corrected.

"Thank you, Catalog."

Then the image flashed. All that remained of the planet was a slowly tumbling, glowing, and rocky debris field. The planet that used to be called Dole Breinng was utterly annihilated.

"By the Precursors." Trenches-Underfoot breathed. "What have you done…!"

Spade's face began to contort. It wasn't a result of the stasis field.

"You killed them all…" Leaves-that-Glow said, immediately heartbroken. "The men… women… children… all life on the planet…!"

"I didn't mean to!" Spade cried out, tears leaking down his face. "It was an accident! An accident! I wasn't trying to…!"

"SHUT YOUR DAMNED MOUTH!" Calm roared, marching up to the stasis fields. The Warrior-Servant gritted his teeth and spoke to the weeping Miner. "Your arrogance… your _accident_ killed three billion people!"

Catalog chimed, "Three billion, four-"

"SHUT UP! _SHUT UP!_" The enraged Forerunner shouted. "Those were Warrior-Servants on that world! They were doing all they could to protect that world, and you STABBED THEM ALL IN THE BACK!"

"Silence!" Truth demanded.

"What were you hoping to gain?! Gain profit like a damned Builder?!"

"I beg your pardon?!" Blunt said standing to shout. The other Builders in the room started to shout at the Warrior Servant. Within seconds, a full blown verbal battle was commencing in the room. Builders were shouting at Warriors. Lifeworkers were trying to get it under control, but their sweet voices were drowned in the vocal barrages. "Even if I were to gain profit for my work and trade, the Warrior-Servants must have no honor to make such a remark! If honor is profit, your lot must be bankrupt!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! ORDER!" The Senior Juridical's voice was magnified. The room itself seemed to rumble with her angry words. "GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" She ordered the guards and Spade, still looking quite upset. They brought the prisoner to wait outside, not saying a word. When the doors closed, Truth stepped down from her pedestal, looking absolutely livid. "Catalog, please stop your recording for a moment."

"But I am mandated by the Ecumene to record the judicial process." It began.

"You are mandated to record the trial. Not my personal words."

"Very well." Catalog stated.

Truth looked at the Forerunners around her. "I am absolutely _ashamed_ to be among a group of disrespectful Builders and Warriors! You act as if you were children fighting over a petty excuse! You are all thousands of years old! You are Manipulars no longer! Those days are behind you! I urge you ALL to grow up, lest I charge you all with Contempt of Court! You are wasting MY TIME as well as YOUR OWN!" She gave a glance around the room. Calm was almost purple with rage. Blunt seemed to be held down by nothing but his second form subordinates. "Is that _understood_?!"

"It is." The hall chanted.

"Excellent. Now, if we could continue. Catalog, you may resume your recording. Before we allow the accused to re-enter the chambers, I would like to address the evidence itself. Warriors, please remove the protection on the crate."

The soldiers did as ordered. One of them tapped a glowing pad on the box. The entire structure of the case dissolved and faded into light, leaving a single panel floating. Inside the box was a single jewel, balancing on its point, and rotating slightly. It was in the shape of a diamond with a bright green color to it.

Once again there was silence. But this seemed to be of confusion. Trenches-Underfoot actually laughed. "_That_ destroyed Dole Breinng?"

"Destruction of a planet is nothing to laugh at, esteemed Miner." Truth said. "Yes indeed, this is indeed the object that was responsible for the destruction of the planet and billions of lives."

"That's impossible." Trenches said. "It's a diamond!"

"Actually, it is not." Truth called for her assistant, a Manipular by the name of Glorious Speech of Searches to the center of the podium. "You may speak on your findings." She said.

The Manipular cleared his throat, nervous about speaking in front of a large crowd of Forerunners. "We… ah… we… were able to run a quick analysis on the jewel itself. It is in fact _not_ a… a diamond. We have… ah… consulted Miners on the subject, and they agree that there is composition of beryl, vanadium, and a small amount of chromium, indicating that this… this is not a diamond as initially thought, but…"

"An emerald." Trenches finished the sentence.

"Yes…" Glorious Speech said. "But there are inconsistancies. It is impossible to tell how hard the jewel is."

"Just scratch the damned jewel!" Trenches replied, shrugging.

"It doesn't scratch. Not with anything that we can use."

"Well then it's not an emerald." The Miner said.

"But it _is_ an emerald. The scans don't lie. Along with that, it seems that there is indeed some sort of way this emerald can store energy and use it and even, amplify it. It doesn't fall over unless placed on its side. This emerald is something that we have never seen before."

"It also does not seem to match the consistency of a Slipspace flake." Blunt-from-Striking noted. "Seems like it was cut artificially."

"Artificially?" Trenches-Underfoot echoed. "Are we looking at a Precursor artifact?"

"Highly unlikely." Truth announced. "That was one of our first suggestions. I ran it by the Master Builder himself, and he considers this unlike any Precursor artifact that we have seen. There is clear lattice structure that does not seem to correspond to Neural Physics."

"By the Mantle." Calm said. "The Master Builder is involved…"

"Was this perhaps constructed by someone other than the Precursors?" A Lifeworker named Petals-of-the-Moon asked. Her brow was furrowed and concern was in her eyes.

"Define 'someone other'." Blunt asked.

"Someone… older perhaps?"

"Heresy." Leaves declared. "The Precursors are eternal. Their constructs defy all known knowledge. They were here before us and seeded this galaxy with life."

"Don't let your dogma of the Mantle get in the way of being a healthy skeptic, esteemed Lifeworker." Blunt advised. "Perhaps she has a point."

"But the Precursors are eternal!"

"Indeed, in _this_ galaxy perhaps." Blunt tapped a massive finger on the table, making a small rumble in doing so. "But perhaps there are other more advanced races in other galaxies. Perhaps this is a sign that they exist."

Leaves kept to himself, despite the fact that he was ready to condemn this talk against the Mantle and the life-giving Precursors.

"We're not sure about that. This is pure speculation. Let us stick to facts." Truth declared.

"Um… Senior Juridical, if I may entertain your thoughts for only one more moment?"

"Make it quick." The Forerunner allowed.

The Manipular cleared his throat. "I've had a theory that perhaps… if this power can be amplified to cause massive damage to a planetary structure… perhaps there were more than one involved in the incident at Dole Breinng?"

Calm cocked his head. He picked up some of this.

Truth turned her back to Catalog. "Speculation, Manipular." She whispered then, "We will discuss that later, so quietly that Catalog must not have heard it."

"So what is to be done about the jewel?" Trenches asked. "Let it sit around possibly destroying multiple planets?"

"No." Truth said. "We study them. We learn all we can from them then."

Calm stepped forward. "Perhaps we can see how we can use this emerald for our own ships? Our Warrior-Servants?"

"No!" Leaves shouted. "The last thing we should be doing is put the power of this… thing in any weapon! What happened to Dole Breinng may happen to thousands of worlds all over the galaxy! I for one would be horrified should that destruction come to us! No man or woman should ever have that power!"

"We shall discuss this… _later_!" Truth said. "Bring back the Miner." She instructed the Warrior Servant.

Within moments, Spade-with-Cracks was brought back before the panel. He was still weeping, but could not wipe his tears away. He was pathetic. Catalog made an effort to capture the aspects of the disgraced Miner's face, and at the same time, focused on Truth's cross features. It was confused with these proceedings, but made no motion to interrupt this

"Have you had some time to think on your actions?" the Juridical asked.

"Not enough." Spade sobbed. "Oh by the Mantle! I am sorry! I… only wanted to help! I only wanted to help my people!"

"You acted arrogantly." A Warrior-Servant spoke in a gravelly tone, yellow eyes glinting in the shadow. "You acted like an Untried Manipular!"

"I know!"

"You acted without thinking. You acted with greed and that clouded your judgement." Blunt spoke. "This is not the way a Builder would act."

"I know!"

"You acted against the Mantle when you slew the Engineer, yet you spat in its face when you destroyed that world." Leaves said in a low tone.

"I accept my responsibility! I didn't see it at first!" the Miner said.

"You were afraid." Truth said. "And your fear gave you falsehood. The Mantle demands that one take responsibilities for one's wrongs. You can still act valiantly before this court, Spade-with-Cracks."

The Miner didn't even consider. "I submit to the Senior Juridical! I apologize to those before me! To the souls of the dead, and ask forgiveness from the Mantle itself!"

Truth took a breath, and delivered her verdict. "It is the decision the Senior Juridicial to provide sentencing to the previously determined guilty party. Spade-with-Cracks, Third Form Miner, I do not believe you have had the time to think of the souls you condemned to the Abyss, but I will ensure that you will have time and will think upon your mistakes. You will be confined to a Cryptum for ten thousand years of near-solitary confinement, with only the barest access to the Domain. You will think upon your crimes. Should you choose to accept it, you may take on the Carapace to be free of your sentence."

Spade glanced over at Catalog, who glanced at him with all of its eyes. He was no longer crying, but the sadness was still there. "I will consider it, Senior Juridical."

"You will consider a great many things, Miner. May the Mantle and the souls of the dead find solace enough to forgive you for your crimes. Be gone from this place of Justice."

With that, the stasis field activated fully, freezing the Forerunner in place. The Warrior-Servants pulled him from the room, and out of the hall. The doorway slid shut, leaving an uncomfortable silence among the Forerunners.

"I don't believe I'll be able to forget what I saw today." Blunt-from-Striking said getting up. "I feel I need a walk." The Builder slowly walked out of the hall, the door expanding to make room for his massive bulk. Soon after, many of the others followed him.

"I need to spend time in the Forest." Petals said softly. "I need to meditate upon the life on this world."

"I will join you." Leaves agreed. "Life is so precious. It can be taken away at any moment."

Soon, only the Senior Juridical, Catalog, the Manipular, and Calm were the only ones left in the chambers. The humming of machinery became the only sound once more, but the light from the outside flooded into the chambers. Truth wondered for a second as she looked out over the mountains, what it would have been like to be on Dole Breinng on that last day. Her ancilla provided the experience, and at once, the Senior Juridical was frightened by what she saw. The monitor flew away, content that it had done its job well.

"An excellent proceeding." Catalog said in an approving manner. "The river of justice is ever-flowing, and cannot be blocked by neither dam nor rock."

"Do you think it was just?" Truth asked.

"I apologize." Catalog said. "I do not know what you mean by this."

The Forerunner repeated her question. "Do you think it was a just verdict."

The carapace's eyes tilted, almost as if in confusion. "Senior Juridical, I neither do nor judge. I record. I am Catalog."

Truth realized that there was no point in arguing with Catalog. It truly was a perfectly impartial individual. It would not like to hear that last part. "Please communicate the results of the trial to the Master Builder, and communicate through Catalog that the jewel is ready to be transported.

"Already being done." Catalog stated, matter-of-fact.

Calm noticed that the Manipular was looking out of the window close to his. He looked over his shoulder to see that the Juridical was leaving with Catalog in tow.

_ That damned machine_, the Warrior-Servant thought. Though he sensed that he had an opportunity that he could never pass up. He needed to do this now.

"Lagging behind, Manipular?" Calm said as friendly as his voice could muster. "You had best be getting along."

"Oh!" Glorious Speech said, clearly surprised by being spoken to by a massive Warrior-Servant. The young Forerunner was at once intimidated by the Promethean's armor and harsher features. "Ah, you're right! I had best be off!"

_Now_.

"Ah, before you go, young Forerunner, I think you mentioned something earlier about these emeralds?"

"Oh! Those chaotic things!" The Manipular said.

"Yes. Those… chaotic emeralds. You mentioned that perhaps there was more that were located out there?"

"Yes but… but… that was only a theory!" Glorious Speech said.

"Ha! Theories! Young Manipular, theories were how our ancestors left the home world. Theories led to many victories among the Warrior-Servants. Theories may have very well have been the reason for our existence. Perhaps your theories will become fact!"

The young man seemed interested in that. "Well… perhaps I… and my colleagues of course… we may have a few ideas. But the Master Builder…"

"He's not important." He smiled once more, and the Manipular smiled back. Calm placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and they made for the hallway, leaving the chambers empty – nothing but a flat and empty room. "Walk with me. We have things to discuss you and I."

With that, the door closed behind them, and the humming of the computers continued uninterrupted.


End file.
